Anita,

According to The Word Detective (http://word-detective.com), in a column 
published in newspapers on 11/05/98:

"This horrifying story is, as I'm sure you suspect, not even remotely true. 
'Picnic' first appeared in English in 1748, apparently borrowed directly 
from the French 'piquenique,' which combined 'piquer' (pick) with the 
obsolete French word 'nique' (trifle). The first picnics were what we would 
call pot-luck dinners. Only in the mid-19th century did 'picnic' come to 
mean a meal eaten outdoors. There is not, and never was, a secret racist 
history to 'picnic.'"

Thank goodness that it is only an urban legend!

Jean Spradlin-Miller

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Anita Wills" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, June 23, 2007 2:18 PM
Subject: Re: Violent holidays (was Re: Juneteenth)


>I heard many years ago that pic nic, was a derogatory term for African 
>Americans. I did not research this term, but understood that it referred to 
>finding and killing a black person, and then having a Pic nic. Maybe 
>someone else knows exactly what the historical significance is of this 
>word.
>
> Anita